Friday, September 28, 2012

Today's Friday Five is with the fabulous author of POSSESS (which scared me so much I had to stop reading it) and TEN (which I cannot wait to read - and finally can!). She is a trained opera singer and still sings with the Cirque Berserk in Los Angeles. She vlogs with the YA Rebels. She tours with Stages on Pages. And on top of all that, she is just a charming person, and not at all scary in real life.

THE FIVE:

1. What would your super power be?

I'm ALL about shape-shifting. I think it's the actress in me – the idea of pretending to be someone else. Mystique was always my favorite mutant.

2. What is your most unappealing habit?

I'm a nail-biter. Have been since I was a kid. I do it unconsciously when I'm nervous: in a scary movie, watching my favorite sports team in a big game, reading an edit letter from my editor…

3. What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?

When I was a senior in college (and already accepted to several graduate opera programs), the choir director at my undergrad university took me aside one day and told me I sang with an "ugly tone." I looked him dead in the eye and replied, "Well, the graduate departments at three conservatories didn't think so." He shut his trap and walked away.

4. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Champagne. I can't help myself. I LOVE it. Love. Like it's my desert island "food." Yeah, this probably isn't something I should be admitting in public…

5. What song would you have played at your funeral?

"Monkey Gone To Heaven" by the Pixies. :D

ABOUT POSSESS:

Rule #1: Do not show fear.Rule #2: Do not show pity.Rule #3: Do not engage.Rule #4: Do not let your guard down.Rule #5: They lie.

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her mom, by the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, it turns out the voices are demons – and Bridget has the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from.

Terrified to tell people about her new power, Bridget confides in a local priest who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her new power, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone close to her winds up dead – or worse, the human vessel of a demon king.

It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives – three days on Henry Island at an exclusive house party. Best friends Meg and Minnie each have their own reasons for wanting to be there, both of which involve Kamiak High’s most eligible bachelor, T.J. Fletcher. But what starts out as a fun-filled weekend turns dark and twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine.

Suddenly, people are dying and the teens are cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phones, no internet, and a ferry that isn’t scheduled to return for two days. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on each other, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?

About Me

Having spent time as a freelance travel writer, travel agent, coffee shop barista, bookseller, ship's steward, construction company contracts manager and Montessori preschool teacher, I have finally found my calling. I write historical fiction for young adults. I am represented by Catherine Drayton of InkWell Management.

Find Me!

TARNISH

When poet Thomas Wyatt offers to coach Anne Boleyn on how to shine at court, she accepts. Before long, Anne's popularity has soared, but more than popularity, Anne wants a voice. What began as a game becomes high stakes as Anne finds herself forced to make an impossible choice between her heart's desire and the chance to make history.

GILT

When her best friend marries Henry VIII, Kitty Tylney must learn to walk the fine line between secrets and treason, discovering that in the Tudor court, the price of gossip could literally be her head.